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AtGoogleTalks uploaded a new video
(4 hours ago)
The Authors@Google program welcomed Christopher McDougall to Google's New York office to discuss his book, "Born To Run".
From The Washing...
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The Authors@Google program welcomed Christopher McDougall to Google's New York office to discuss his book, "Born To Run".
From The Washington Post: "The book flows not like a race but like a scramble through an obstacle course. McDougall wends his way through the history and physiology of running, occasionally digressing into mini-profiles of top-tier racers and doctors, spinning off into tangents about legendary races like the Leadville Trail 100 Ultramarathon, while always looping back to the main narrative. Back on course, he describes his pursuit of the bashful, elusive Tarahumara and their secret to success on foot; his befriending of an eccentric gringo who became part of the tribe and is the key to McDougall's communication with it; and the realization of the eccentric's dream to pit big-name, corporate-sponsored American marathoners against the near-primeval Indians in a super ultra-marathon in the Copper Canyons. A race to end all races, in other words. A sprint to the finish between old and new.
The scenario is a writer's dream. McDougall found a large cast of crazy characters, an exotic setting for drama and discovery, and a tailor-made showdown with which to cap the book. By and large it's a thrilling read, even for someone who couldn't care less about proper stride and split times and energy gels. McDougall's prose, while at times straining to be gonzo and overly clever, is engaging and buddy-buddy, as if he's an enthusiastic friend tripping over himself to tell a great story. He writes, for example, of a fellow-runner who "sluiced sweat off his dripping chest and flung it past me, the shower of droplets sparkling in the blazing Mexican sun." A relentless and experienced reporter, McDougall dramatizes situations he did not directly witness, and he does so with an intimacy and an exactness that may irk discerning readers and journalistic purists. "Born to Run" uses every trick of creative nonfiction, a genre in which literary license is an indispensable part of truth-telling. McDougall has arranged and adrenalized his story for maximum narrative impact. Questions crop up about the timing of events and the science behind the drama, but it's best to keep pace with him and trust that -- separate from the narrative drama -- we're actually seeing a glimpse of running's past and how it may apply to the present and the future."
"Christopher McDougall is a former war correspondent for the Associated Press and is now a contributing editor for Mens Health. A three-time National Magazine Award finalist, he has written for Esquire, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Mens Journal, and New York."
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AtGoogleTalks uploaded a new video
(13 hours ago)
Ken Aulettan visits Google's Mountain View office to present his book "Googled: The End of the World As We Know It". This event took plac...
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Ken Aulettan visits Google's Mountain View office to present his book "Googled: The End of the World As We Know It". This event took place on November 11, 2009, as part of the Authors@Google series
There are companies that create waves and those that ride or are drowned by them. As only he can, bestselling author Ken Auletta takes readers for a ride on the Google wave, telling the story of how it formed and crashed into traditional media businesses—from newspapers to books, to television, to movies, to telephones, to advertising, to Microsoft. With unprecedented access to Googles founders and executives, as well as to those in media who are struggling to keep their heads above water, Auletta reveals how the industry is being disrupted and redefined.
Using Google as a stand-in for the digital revolution, Auletta takes readers inside Googles closed-door meetings and paints portraits of Googles notoriously private founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, as well as those who work with—and against—them. In his narrative, Auletta provides the fullest account ever told of Googles rise, shares the secret sauce of Googles success, and shows why the worlds of new and old media often communicate as if residents of different planets.
Google engineers start from an assumption that the old ways of doing things can be improved and made more efficient, an approach that has yielded remarkable results— Google will generate about $20 billion in advertising revenues this year, or more than the combined prime-time ad revenues of CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX. And with its ownership of YouTube and its mobile phone and other initiatives, Google CEO Eric Schmidt tells Auletta his company is poised to become the worlds first $100 billion media company.
Yet there are many obstacles that threaten Googles future, and opposition from media companies and government regulators may be the least of these. Google faces internal threats, from its burgeoning size to losing focus to hubris. In coming years, Googles faith in mathematical formulas and in slide rule logic will be tested, just as it has been on Wall Street.
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AtGoogleTalks uploaded a new video
(17 hours ago)
David McWilliams (www.davidmcwilliams.ie) visited Google-Dublin and give a talk about his new book, "Follow the Money".
David is a high p...
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David McWilliams (www.davidmcwilliams.ie) visited Google-Dublin and give a talk about his new book, "Follow the Money".
David is a high profile economist, media columnist and former banker. He has authored two bestselling books "The Pope's Children" and "The Generation Game".
This event took place on November 20th 2009
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AtGoogleTalks uploaded a new video
(2 days ago)
Artist David LeBatard (aka LEBO) talks about his career, his inspiration, and his technique at an art dedication to the Google SF office. He talks ...
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Artist David LeBatard (aka LEBO) talks about his career, his inspiration, and his technique at an art dedication to the Google SF office. He talks specifically about his new series 'A Small World,' which features interpretations of the flags of nuclear-capable countries paired with painted Gibson guitars. LEBO's style is referred to as Post Modern Cartoon Art Impressionist, and the complex title belies the many facets of his immediate yet layered works. LEBO is known for collaborating with musicians, creating live art as they perform.
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AtGoogleTalks uploaded a new video
(4 days ago)
Josh Bazell visits Google's San Francisco office to present his book "Beat the Reaper". This event took place on October 21, 2009, as par...
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Josh Bazell visits Google's San Francisco office to present his book "Beat the Reaper". This event took place on October 21, 2009, as part of the Authors@Google series.
Making a hit man turned medical intern a sympathetic figure would be a tall order for most authors, but first-time novelist Bazell makes it look easy in this breezy and darkly comic suspense novel. The Locanos, a mob family, take in 14-year-old Pietro Brwna (pronounced Browna) after a couple of thugs gun down the grandparents who raised him in their New Jersey home. Bent on revenge, Pietro pursues the killers and executes them a year later. Impressed by Pietros performance, David Locano recruits Pietro as a hit man. After more traumas, Pietro tries to make a break from his past by entering the witness protection program. Now known as Peter Brown, he eventually lands a position as a doctor at a decrepit Manhattan hospital, where by chance a former Mafia associate turns up as a patient and threatens to rat him out. The hero's wry narrative voice, coupled with Bazells artful use of flashbacks to sustain tension and fill in Pietro's past, are a winning combination.
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